Arab Analyst:

Afrin Developments New US Plot to Divert Attentions from Israel's Danger

Rasa - Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of Rai al-Youm newspaper, warned that Washington and Tel Aviv are masterminding the developments in Afrin in Northern Syria to deviate the regional public opinion from the danger of Israel.

News ID: 436535

Date: 21 February 2018 - 20:12

RNA - "We fear that Afrin be a trap laid by the US and Israel to weaken Russia, Turkey, Syria and Iran to derail attention from the danger of Israel which is the real threat to the region," Atwan wrote on Wednesday.

He referred to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's advice to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by sayig that Ankara can meet its legitimate security interests through talks with the Syrian government, and said it is a valuable advice given Lavrov's high knowledge about the latest developments related to the war in Syria.

Atwan reminded that Washington is only an ally of Israel in the region and all its regional policies are at the service of supporting the Israeli interests, and said the US uses others, specially the Turks, Kurds and Arabs, as a tool to materialize this goal.

"Listening to Lavrov's advice can be the shortest way to foil the US and Israeli plots," he underscored.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned last Thursday that the US arms supplies to Kurds still continue.

"The Americans have sent the Kurds convoys with weapons through the territory of Iraq, provoking Turkey. Turkey, in turn, has continued its military activity against Kurds in the Afrin area in Northwestern Syria as part of the Operation Olive Branch," Zakharova said, noting that the ongoing battles between Turkish troops and Kurds were fierce.

According to Fars News Agency, the Turkish officials have repeatedly claimed that the arming of the Syrian Kurds is one of the major factors that have contributed to the deterioration of Ankara-Washington relations.

Ankara has claimed that the US was making a mistake in supplying weapons to the YPG. Turkish officials said the YPG is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization in the country, and claims that the American weapons they received could be directed against Turkey.

The tensions between the US and Turkey have been on the rise as the Turkish Armed Forces launched the operation against Kurdish forces in Afrin on January 20. The decision to launch the military operation was made in the wake of a US decision to establish a border force that would involve Kurdish militias, including YPG.

Damascus has strongly condemned Ankara's actions, with the Syrian Foreign Ministry calling them a violation of the country's sovereignty.

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